I'm R.F. Long and this is my LJ home, where I talk about writing, life, inspirations and distractions.

Please feel free to friend me and if you do, a comment to say hi (and maybe even why) is greatly appreciated. It's nice to know who you are. If I don't friend you back its because my brain doesn't always work the way it should. :)

You can also visit my website -- http://www.rflong.com -- and I'm on twitter too -- http://twitter.com/RFLong

R

A little belated, happy birthday actually. I blame time zones!

Hadley Rille Books is 4 years old! My first serious sale was Carrying Keptara for the anthology Ruins Metropolis. I remember seeing the call, and the beautiful cover art which was to serve as inspiration for all the stories in this wonderful anthology. Looking at it, I was sure that there would be a lot of Egyptian stories so I tried to come up with something a bit different. I'd been to Crete a number of years ago and read pretty extensively on the collapse of the Minoan civilisation, and the theory that the eruption of the volcano on Thera (now Santorini) and subsequent tsunami which devastated the north coast of Crete, and a settlement on Thera itself, served as the origin of the Altantis myth. How would an advance civilsation deal with pending disaster? (If you don't think the Minoans were advanced for their time, take a look at their artwork and pottery - walking through the museum in Heraklion is like travelling backwards in time as you move from the Minoan section into the Mycenean). The story is also peppered with names from various cultures, positing that the women who left, carrying the remains of their civilisation, form the basis of other legends and other cultures. At the core of the story, of course, was a very human dilemma.

It was a lot of fun to write. I was going through a rough patch - that period most writers seem to go through - where no matter how hard you try nothing seems to sell and all the rejections are "this is close... but..." Usually these tales go something along the lines of "I was this close to giving up..." Well, I was.

On new year's day I got an email from ericreynolds to say how much he liked the story, and to offer publication in the anthology. I nearly fell off my chair but managed to hang on long enough to mail him back and accept. He mailed again, asking if I was having a good New Year.

There was only one reply possible. "I am now!"

Things have taken off since then. My novel "The Scroll Thief" comes out in print next week, "Soul Fire" follows in May and both of them, and the Holtlands stories are available as ebooks. "May Queen" led to me signing with Colleen Lindsay.

If Eric hadn't like Keptara, would these things still have happened? I don't know. It certainly gave me an enormous boost to my flagging confidence and seeing my name in that book was such a special moment. It has pride of place on my shelves and is still one of my favourite stories.

So thank you Eric. It certainly was a wonderful way to start a new year. Here is to many many more!

A while ago I entered a competition with #YALitChat on Twitter and St. Martin's Press. The results were posted last night and I'm delighted to say I finalled. I'm not sure what happens next but I'll let you know as soon as I can!

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it. :)

Originally published at R. F. Long.

A mixture of exhaustion and excitement today. Still haven't quite shaken that post flu low that seems to linger on and on after H1N1. It's got to the point where its more irritating than anything else. I'm trying not to overdo it, but I can't not do things. We had a very quiet day yesterday during which we watched the new Star Trek with the kids. They loved it. A big old nerd family gathering then.

e_w_h and I also watched August Rush which was just phenomenal. I was so delighted with the idea of hearing music in the world around you because I've always done that (although I'd be hard pushed to write a rhapsody). It was marvellously portrayed and I really enjoyed it. Robin Williams was so sinister.

Tomorrow is the start of a rush of things which will take us up to Christmas. Tomorrow, my mum turns 80. Mum, Dad, my sisters and I are going away for the night to a beautiful country hotel. Can't wait. I have, as suggested by my eldest sister, packed the "posh frock". :) Can't believe she's 80 though. She certainly doesn't act like it.

After that there are a series of dinners and things for Christmas, mainly an excuse for meeting friends and family, which I'd look forward to a lot more if we had a regular babysitter. Currently we're engaged in the frantic ring-round and no-response game of trying to organise someone for each night. I love going out but this part is so stressful.

And of course, another excitement/stress is coming up next week - we're having a family and friends book launch for The Scroll Thief. Most couldn't make it in to Octocon so we decided at the time there would be two. It seemed such a long way away when I set the date. And now... well... not so much! I have to write down something to say, apparently. Not sure what. Mainly "Thank you", I suspect. Everyone has been so supportive of the book that it's stunned me to be honest. And its deeply gratifying of course. But mainly just shock! :)

Anyway, that's where I am, and where I will be when I go "off air" tomorrow afternoon until Wednesday.

And now I'm off to buy the biggest birthday card I can find!

Last night I accepted an offer of representation from the fabulous Colleen Lindsay of Fineprint Literary Management.

I am:

(a) shellshocked

(b) overjoyed and really excited

(c) a bit bewildered

(d) all of the above (nothing new there).

We now return you to our normal programming...

It was 3am when the news broke. I was asleep!

Originally published at R. F. Long.

(Dear FList - I will do up a more detailed query-fest post when I can get my head around it all)

but we've had swine flu, as some of you know. And for the last few days I've been playing catch-up. Not terribly successfully.

Looking forward to new Dr. Who tonight tho'. I'll be recording it and watching it after my salsa class, so if anyone let's anything slip, there'll be hell to pay! ;)

Oh, and I almost forgot - Amazon and The Book Depository now have copies of The Scroll Thief and have started shipping. EEP!

It's Excerpt Monday time again. It came round very fast.

As it comes out in print on the 1st December, I've an excerpt from The Scroll Thief up on my website, and links to some of the other wonderful excerpts available. Free reads for all. ;)

Despite being in a plague house (no really) I've been pottering away, mainly with working on The Wolf's Destiny, but also with making a book trailer for The Wolf's Mate (because I love to tinker with them).

So here it is!



The book comes out from Samhain on 19th January 2010 as an ebook. Later in the year, both "The Wolf's Sister" and "The Wolf's Mate" will come out in a print volume "Songs of the Wolf".

And in the meantime I have part three to write. :)

Originally published at R. F. Long.

Had a splendid surprise just now when I was checking out the Samhain website - The Wolf's Mate is up, along with its fantastic, evocative cover by Natalie Winters. I just love this one. It captures so many of the themes of this story the magic, the danger and the darkness that threatens to part Shan and Jeren forever.

The Wolf's Mate by R. F. Long

Read An Excerpt Online
Genre: Fantasy Romance

ISBN: 978-1-60504-702-7
Length: Category
Price: 4.50
Publication Date: January 19, 2010
Cover art by Natalie Winters

Their love is a forbidden gift. Keeping it means a fight to the death

A Tale of the Holtlands, Book 2

After escaping from her Holtlands home and her brother's madness, Jeren looks forward to a new life with her beloved Shan and his people. She doesn't expect the Fey'na to readily accept someone of her bloodline, but she's determined to prove herself worthy. Then the jealous eyes of the beautiful sect mother, Ylandra, fall on Shan--handsome, strong, matchless among warriors--turning Jerens fragile new world upside down.

Shan wants nothing more than to be with Jeren, the courageous beauty who's captured his heart. But their ancient enemy has attacked, and Ylandra cleverly uses an archaic oath to bind him to her service--fulltime. As he sets out on a suicide mission into the heart of enemy territory, he promises Jeren he'll return--somehow--to claim her as his mate.

Jeren is left alone to make a place for herself among the elite Fey'na warriors, until a Holtlands envoy arrives bearing her ancestors' sword. This magical artifact calls to the innate magic in her blood and forces her to make a terrible choice. She could lead the battle to free her people--but only if she forsakes Shan.

Warning: contains scary monsters, desperate acts, burning jealousy and the consummation of a timeless love.

Read An Excerpt Online

Originally published at R. F. Long.

Terry Kate is having a very special competition on Romance in the Back Seat.

~~

Hello to all and welcome Fall and the beginning of the Holiday Season.











Romance in the Backseat

~~

Why not pop along and see what you can give to someone special?

Originally published at R. F. Long.

via kara_gnome

What breed of horse are you? Find out!
The majestic Andalusian, a brilliant white equine with kind eyes and a flowing mane. Your nature is very gentle and willing, and you are likely to perform movements in the haute ecole. You are generous and classical, your love of romance brings you to many places, especially in Europe. Your old-fashioned tastes are refreshing in this all-to-tacky modern world. A famous andalusian is Shadowfax, who appears in the second book (and movie) of Lord of the Rings

You will likely live in Spain or France and have a wealthy, possibly Royal, owner.

Your coat colour is most likely: White, grey, or dapple.


And I am happy! :)

Warning: may turn into pointless waffling. Also contains spoilers for an episode of Bones called "The Plain in the Prodigy" (Season 5, ep 3). If you're a fan you may want to stop reading so.

Something occured to me the other night while watching Bones. Something kind of writing related. So I thought I would share. It may well be that everyone else knows this already. Certainly, I knew this already but I'd never seen it demonstrated so susinctly as a "Bad Thing".

I love Bones. Normally I sit and giggle the whole way through, enjoying the characters, the interplay, the grisly murders... all the normal things a girl wants to watch on a worknight. And this episode was great, up to a point.

( *Spoilers follow* with added waffle... )
Because that's a bit of a betrayal right there. It's not the first time they've done it either. And I've seen it elsewhere. There seems to be a trend for these endings where "omg it could happen to anyone", "life is random", and "we'll wrap everything up in five minutes of slow motion and meaningful music/voice-over at the end, because we couldn't actually work out a meaningful resolution to this one".

And this sort of thing doesn't work in fiction. Sure it happens in real life, like coincidences, and bumping into the very person who could help you out in a fix turning a corner on the street.

But not in fiction.

Fiction is a constructed world which must fit together logically and flawlessly. We're already asking the reader/viewer to suspend disbelief. It goes a bit far to ask them to believe a random event you haven't set up throughout the story. Perhaps part of the fun in reading is to pick up on the clues as you go along, trying to piece together what will happen and building your own expectations.

That's where stories like this fall down - reader expectations. You've spent all this time setting up a story but then give no meaningful resolution. And the reader feels cheated.

And grumbles.

And has to eat lots of chocolate.

Originally published at R. F. Long.

On a happier note (if you don't know why, don't worry about it), I finished both the fireplace and the edits last night.

So I can show you pictures of the fireplace. The edits... well, you'll have to wait a little while.

Without further ado...

Before


After



I have mad paintbrush skillz! :)

I am hunting typos...

I've been gone for ages (I just realised). Ok, ages for me. This is mainly due to various forms of edits.

I got myself stuck deeply into the galleys for the print edition of Soul Fire and sent them back - roll on 1st May - but oh my, it was amazing what I found. I guess its easy to get caught up in the flow of a book at all level. I'm always astounded by the way the brain compensates to allow us to read. It reminds me of the thing that went around a few years ago, the one wehre all the wrods were mxied up but cuold stlil be raed. (Kind of)

Er my corrections were NOWHERE near as bad as this. There was a The instead of a Then, and occasional overuse of words. Wow, my editor would kill me if I implied we had typos like that! :)

I'm now working on edits for a novella. It's round 2 which means the slow chipping away of the problems to reveal the final (hopefully final anyway) piece. Still the odd dangling modifyier. A few bits of clarification of positions and emotions, but so far so good.

We've also been working on the house - shelves, cupboards, sorting out the conservatory so it can be used as a room rather than a dumping ground/cat haven. And I'm painting the fireplace insert.

Red.
With gold bits!!!

I'm adding the gold bits this evening and really looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I'll have to take some photos. The red is gorgeous.

I'm also reading a wonderful book which is just sucking time out of my hands - Ariana Franklin's Relics of the Dead. I loved the previous two - Mistress of the Art of Death and Death Maze - and this one is living up to that. Its so absorbing, compelling and beautifully written to just draw you right into Adelia's world. I can't recommend these books highly enough.

Watched "Easy Virtue" last night which was excellent and "The Boat that Rocked" which I enjoyed far more than I expected to. Wonderful stuff. We've got Chuck and Stargate Universe tonight.

So that's what I've been up to. One day I will write something new again. I promise... ;)

Well, it may have taken a day and a half to recover, but you had Excerpt Monday yesterday to entertain yourselves...

I had an absolute ball at Octocon. So did the kids, but more on that later. Everyone was very welcoming and there was a fantastic atmosphere all weekend. With the tensions earlier that week resolved I think everyone attending was determined to enjoy themselves to the fullest. So here is a brief summary, with (because it's me) pictures*.

This was the first con where I was actually participating. I ended up participating more than I expected (which was not a bad thing) and so did my family. The kids were in heaven between some spectacular facepainting, stickers for the badges, a games room, the Top Monster competition and lego. Many thanks to Nichola, Cat and others for welcoming the terrible twosome and entertaining them. Even if they did keep trying to steal your biscuits.

( Details and pictures... )

Originally published at R. F. Long.

It's Excerpt Monday again, and this time I prepared! :)

With Halloween (Samhain) fast approaching, I've posted one of the scarier moments from my novel Soul Fire at my website RFLong.com

Don't forget to visit the Excerpt Monday site itself for a host of great links and loads of free reads.

(eta and remember its international so if the other posts aren't up just yet, remember to try again later. A whole day of fun)

Had a brilliant time at Octocon and the book launch went off very well. Looking forward to next year already. Once I've caught up on my sleep. I will post some photos and "stuff" soon, probably tomorrow. When I am awake again. :)

Romance in the Backseat's Terry Kate recently interviewed me for their Paranormal section, Backseat Nightmares. We had a lot of fun in chat that evening. The first part is up today. There may be more... you have been warned. ;)

Check it out here.

Originally published at R. F. Long.

A Super 5 Cherries review for Soul Fire came in this morning from Whipped Cream Erotic Romance Reviews:

"Let me start by saying "wow!"...R.F. Long has the amazing ability to drag her readers into the story and carry them along for the ride. The characters were unique and out of this world, yet they seemed like someone you could get along with and have fun with... If you want to read something mind-blowing and incredible then I would recommend you read this story." ~~ Tulip, Whipped Cream Erotic Romance Reviews - read the full review here.

I'm delighted. Just what a girl needs to sooth frazzled nerves before a book launch. :)

Soul Fire is currently available as an ebook from Samhain, Amazon's Kindle, and other online retailers and will be released as a print book on the 1st of May 2010.

Originally published at R. F. Long.

As many of you know, Octocon is on this weekend (10th-11th October 2009) and I will be there, launching The Scroll Thief at 5.30pm on Saturday. I have some advance copies of the book and will be signing them for your delight and entertainment. I may even read (so if nothing else you can get a quick 40 winks).

I also believe I'm on a couple of panels:

Saturday, 1pm - Unnecessary Romance: Our hero has just saved the world! Now to save the girl. Shoehorning romance into action stories.

and

Sunday, 11 am - Bechdel in SF - Bechdel's Law: 1. Does it have at least two women in it, 2. Who [at some point] talk to each other, 3. About something besides a man. Our panelists discuss the merits of this law in SF.

Still have to formulate some more thoughts on these (besides "omgomgbooklaunchomg")

If you're going to be around, come and join in. If you're going to be around at about 5.30om PLEASE come and join in. ;)

Originally published at R. F. Long.

I may be in trouble - Writer & Cat: Meankitty wants to know...

(excuse his baldy bits - he was very ill. Now he is all better.)

Originally published at R. F. Long.